The present invention relates to position sensitive solid-state photomultipliers, and related systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to integrated silicon solid-state photomultipliers and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operable in a Geiger mode.
Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) have been playing an important role as photodetectors for the last several decades. PMTs, however, are relatively expensive, bulky, have relatively low quantum efficiency, come in specific fixed sizes, and are incompatible with magnetic fields, the latter issue being relevant to the growing interest in combined positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. PIN photodiodes and APDs, which are compact, solid-state detectors, have previously been used to build PET detectors. However, they have demanding operating requirements, low gain, and poor timing capabilities.
Silicon solid state photomultipliers (SSPMs) are a promising photodetection technology of increased recent interest. SSPM technology is of interest for possible implementation in a wide variety of applications, including PET, astroparticle physics and gamma-ray astrophysics, high energy collider experiments, and dark matter detection experiments. However, existing SSPM technologies suffer from relatively high cost and complicated implementations, as well as other deficiencies.
Accordingly, a need exists for SSPMs, and related devices, systems, and methods, as well as SSPMs for use in various radiation detection applications, including medical imaging applications.